ALBANY — In the middle of downtown, half a block from the State Capitol, the hollowed-out remains of five brick and stone buildings stare blankly out at State Street. Only the facades remain, some of them covered by plywood.
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
WELLINGTON HOTEL Now little more than a facade, the 1905 building was already termed a “dump” when Andrew M. Cuomo, a law student, shared an apartment there with his father, Mario, the lieutenant governor, in the early 1980s.
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
ALBANY LAW SCHOOL Andrew Cuomo studied there from 1979 to 1982. In those busy days, he said, he and his father lived off food sent by his mother, Matilda, and a nearby McDonald’s. “We weren’t doing a lot of restaurants,” he said.
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
EXECUTIVE MANSION Andrew Cuomo’s new home, which was vacated by David A. Paterson and his family two weeks ago. Its 40 rooms overlook the Hudson River.
The remnants of the building in the middle, which is little more than a tan brick wall with a bit of limestone paneling, was the Wellington Hotel in a former life, a place that offered beds and little else in the way of charm or amenities.
It also happened to be Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s first home in Albany, about 30 years ago. His newest Albany home, of course, is the Executive Mansion, with 40 rooms overlooking the Hudson River.
“It was an old hotel,” Mr. Cuomo said, recalling his days at the Wellington. “Even then.”
Though Sunday will be Mr. Cuomo’s second day as the governor of New York, he has been a familiar face on the streets of Albany for a long time, as attorney general, as the son of former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, but first, as a student at Albany Law School.
Beginning in 1979 when he was in his early 20s, Andrew Cuomo spent three years studying in Albany, sharing an apartment at the Wellington with his father — a space described in a 1982 article in The New York Times as “sort of a dump.”
The elder Mr. Cuomo, who was the lieutenant governor at the time, would join his son at the apartment a few nights a week during the legislative session. Fabian Palomino, who would go on to serve as Mario Cuomo’s special counsel, would sleep in a third bedroom whenever he needed a place to stay in Albany.
The two Cuomos lived a spartan existence. “We’d come home, one of us would burn something for dinner and we’d talk,” Andrew Cuomo once told The Times.
For sustenance, they relied on packages of food sent by Matilda Cuomo, Mario’s wife and Andrew’s mother.
“I was in law school,” Andrew Cuomo said. “We weren’t doing a lot of restaurants, though there was the great McDonald’s restaurant.”
The Wellington was completed in 1905 and then expanded a few years later to about 400 rooms. It was never anything approaching the grande dame of Albany hotels — rather, it was two doors down from the grande dame, the DeWitt Clinton.
And by the time Andrew Cuomo arrived, whatever earlier shine it had enjoyed had worn off.
“It could only be described as genteely shabby,” said James D. Featherstonhaugh, a longtime Albany lobbyist. “It had clearly been nice in its day, whenever it was, but that day was certainly before mine.”
At the time, the Wellington was, however, cheap and convenient. “It was perfect for a workaholic politician who wanted to always be in the figurative shadow of the Capitol, always near work,” Assemblyman John J. McEneny said. “Then it attracts other people who think it’s a good place to run into them in the hall.”
For the younger Mr. Cuomo, the hotel was about a mile and a half from Albany Law School, where he studied, played a little rugby and took full advantage of the school’s basketball courts. The way he portrayed it, his life during those years revolved around studying and basketball.
“Later on when my father became governor,” Mr. Cuomo said, “we would play, and the referees would be the State Police. They were loath to call a foul on the governor of the state, you see.”
“It was sort of a one-sided game,” he added. “And the State Police were armed.”
After sitting vacant for two decades, the Wellington was sold to a developer about four years ago, who gutted the building and its neighbors with plans for an office tower that have not progressed much. From behind, the buildings look as though they have been ripped in half by an angry giant, some left open to the elements.
“Whatever they do with it will be better than this,” said Angelo Joe Amore, a tailor from Calabria, Italy, who has owned a shop across the street called Amore Clothing for 50 years.
But back when the Wellington still had walls, Mario Cuomo was not the only one who took advantage of its proximity to the Capitol. Andrew did, too.
“I got to observe,” said Mr. Cuomo, who would sometimes visit his father in his office or listen to a legislative debate.
“It was a much different time than it is now,” he added. “It was an honorable profession, and these were powerful personalities. I think that made an impression on me.”
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